1. Field of the Invention
A bridge connector arrangement includes a bridge member moveable between engaged and disengaged positions relative to a pair of adjacent electrical modules, thereby to connect and disconnect rows of female terminals on the modules, The bridge member carries a plurality of male bridging contacts that extend within corresponding female terminals when the bridge member is in the engaged position, whereupon the male bridging contacts are biased by clamping springs into electrical engagement with stationary wall contacts mounted within the female terminals. Release members carried by the bridge member are operable both to release the clamping springs from the male contacts, and to displace the bridge member toward the disengaged position relative to the modules. The bridge member and the modules include tongue and groove guide projection and slot means, thereby to mechanically connect the bridge member and the modules against lateral displacement.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown by the Eggert et al U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,615,079 and 5,629,831, and the Hanning U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,399, which are assigned to the same assignee as the instant invention, it is known in the patented prior art to mount control modules for automated buildings and the like on support rails in a control panel, and to provide bridging connectors between the modules, thereby to connect electrically the respective power supply or signal transmitting circuits contained therein. To connect the bus conductors of the adjacent modules, it is known to connect the conductors by pin and socket contacts, or by bus slides. However, it is often also required to provide additional mechanical couplings between the components to stabilize and/or to align the same, use being made of separate operating latch or coupling means.
The present invention was developed to provide a module bridging arrangement that provides not only a simple manual tool-free electrical connection between the components, but also affords a reliable stabilizing and aligning mechanical connection.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a bridge connector arrangement including clamping spring means which, when the bridge body is in the engaged position relative to a pair of modules, clamp the male bridging contacts carried by the bridge body into electrical engagement with the stationary contacts of the associated female terminals on the associated modules, together with release means mounted on the bridge body that are manually operable both to release the spring clamping legs from the male contacts, and to displace the bridge body toward its disengaged position.
According to another object of the invention, the connector bridge body includes a guide projection that extends into a corresponding projecting guide hole formed in the top surfaces of the adjacent modules, tongue and groove means being provided for mechanically fastening the bridge member to the two modules, thereby to form a rigid assembly. The guide projection and guide hole may be coded to insure that the proper predetermined modules are connected together.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide at each end of the bridge body a release member that is generally U-shaped in cross-section and includes a base portion that extends transversely adjacent the end wall of the bridge body, and a pair of legs that extend longitudinally inwardly adjacent the side walls of the bridge body, the release member being manually swingable about pivot cam means provided on the leg portions, thereby displace the bridge member from the engaged position toward the disengaged position. During this swinging movement of the release member, a disengaging cam on the transverse base portion thereof serves to disengage the clamping springs from the male bridge contacts. Separate depressor elements operable simultaneously by the disengaging cam means are mounted in the female terminals above the clamping springs. Alternatively, the depressor means may be directly connected with the transverse base portion of the release member.
According to another object of the invention, fuse means or LED indicator means may be connected in series in the base portions of the U-shaped bridge conductors that extend through the bridge body.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which:
a is a detailed perspective view of the bridging arrangement of
b is a detailed perspective view of the bridge member of
c is a perspective view illustrating the bridge member in the fully released position, and
Referring first more particularly to
Each of the female plug-in terminals includes a row of hollow, vertically arranged cages 6 formed from an electrically-conductive metal, such as copper or brass. The metal cages are connected at their lower ends to the respective ends of parallel spaced internal conductors 21 that are mounted beneath a horizontal intermediate housing wall 3b, as shown in
When the bridge means 11 is manually displaced from the fully disengaged position of
In accordance with the present invention, release members 19 are mounted for swinging movement at each end of the bridge member 13. Each release member has a generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration and includes a base portion 24 that extends horizontally transversely of the bridge member adjacent the associated end wall thereof, and a pair of leg portions 23 that extend longitudinally adjacent the side walls of the bridge member, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the free extremities of the leg portions 23 are resiliently biased inwardly toward frictional engagement with the associated side walls of the bridge member 13. Intermediate the ends of each leg portion 23 is a downwardly extending first integral cam 26 that is arranged for engagement with the upper surface of the associated housing base top wall 3a. A second downwardly extending cam 25 is carried by the transverse base portion of the release member above the row of depressor members 18.
In operation, when the base portions 24 of the release members 19 are manually pressed downwardly as shown in
In the modification of
In accordance with another characterizing feature of the invention, the bridge member 13 is provided with a downwardly extending integral guide projection 15 that extends downwardly within a corresponding guide opening 27 defined between the adjacent edges of the top walls 3a of the housing base portions of the modules. Preferably, the guide projection is provided with tongues 16 that cooperate with corresponding pivot grooves defined in the walls of the opening 27. Thus, the two modules and the bridge member 13 are fastened together by a mechanical connection to define a rigid assembly that resists relative lateral displacement of the modules, whereby the integrity of the electrical connection produced by the bridging conductors 12 is maintained. Furthermore, the tongue and groove means may be coded so that only predetermined modules may be connected by the bridge connector.
Instead of the provision of separate depressor members 18, it is possible to disengage the spring clamping legs 9 directly by means on the transverse base portion 24 of the release members 19. Furthermore, the cams 26 and 25 could be combined to function as a single cam. If desired, a U-shaped clamping spring could be used in place of the V-shaped spring 7.
While in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes the preferred forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without deviating from the invention described above.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20 2005 006 237.5 | Apr 2005 | DE | national |